***1/2 Various Artists

MANDELA -- THE SOUNDTRACK

(Mango)

This might be the most enjoyable and enlightening world-music soundtrack since The Harder They Come. Most important (and like that earlier landmark, which introduced reggae to a wide audience), it makes available a few examples of a wonderful genre not many Americans know: African township swing jazz, which flourished in the '50s and even had some impact at the time domestically, via a Bert Kaempfert hit called "Afrikaan Beat." Basically a smaller-scale imitation of stateside big bands like Glenn Miller and the Dorseys, township swing jazz thrived on comfortable but tight arrangements and killer grooves; the soloists never get too worked up, but they sure keep the party rolling.

The band names tell you almost all you need to know: the Havana Swingsters, the Jazz Dazzlers, and -- on two heavenly tracks -- the Skylarks, who sound like Africa's answer to the Andrews Sisters. For these tracks alone, the album is essential. (Among the bigger names involved are Hugh Masekela and Jonathan Demme; the latter in particular seems to know his way around a soundtrack.) You also get many lovely and stirring a cappella choral numbers, plus the sublime "Free Nelson Mandela" by the Specials, the lazy, sunny "Mmalo-we" by Bayete and Jabu Khanyile, and Brenda Fassies's swaying "Black President." There are occasional missteps, most of them more recent and leaning toward the slick and generic, but nothing awful. This is a proper celebration -- joyous, buoyant, and immediate.

-- Peter Travis